Tadić threatened with recall, DS refutes DSS accusations

Velimir Ilic says the DSS-NS coalition could be forced to start proceedings for President Boris Tadic's removal from office over the SAA. In case the president, who is also the leader of the Democrats (DS) insists on signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, this coalition will be forced to ask for his recall, Ilic warned Sunday in Sokobanja. Tadic threatened with recall, DS refutes DSS accusations "We advise President Tadic and his associates not to play games with Serbia, and not to sign anything, because they will have a big problem on their hands," the New Serbia (NS) leader said. "We advise the same to Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic, and we will ask Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to withdraw any authorization to sign this agreement," Ilic said, and added the SAA must first go through the government and parliamentary procedure. "If anyone were to sign anything that violates the constitution, they will be held accountable", Ilic said. Yesterday, the deputy president of the Democratic Party (DS) Dragan Sutanovac rejected accusations coming from their political rivals, the DSS and New Serbia. Sutanovac, who is also the defense minister in the caretaker Kostunica cabinet, said he and another DS official, Bojan Pajtic, were recently in Brussels on a visit "organized by an association of the people's parties that the DSS is an associate member of". While in Brussels, Sutanovac told a party gathering in Jagodina, he visited the European Parliament, the European Commission, and met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. "The main topic of our conversations was Europe now, Kosovo forever, while we spoke about the security in the region in an informal meeting with the NATO secretary general," Sutanovac said. According to him, the accusations coming from the DSS-NS "should no longer be answered", because this coalition is "only there to help the SRS, the biggest enemies of Serbia's modernization". "Little Vojislav wants to help big Vojislav. The one in Belgrade, the one in The Hague," Sutanovac was quoted as saying, in reference to the DSS and the Radicals (SRS) leaders. He also commented a recent statement by Velimir Ilic, NS, that in Serbia, there is the honest people's coalition on the one side of the divide, while on the other stand the leaders of the coalition led by the DS. "Velimir Ilic's honesty is under the most serious question mark, but we will discuss this after the elections and the formation of a DS-led government," the outgoing minister said. Earlier, his cabinet colleague and DSS official Zoran Locar said that "if the defense minister agreed with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to sign the Solana agreement on April 28, this will be a partisan agreement signed by the Canak-DS-G17 Plus coalition, and nothing more". "We will not recognize such an agreement," Loncar stressed. "Obviously, NATO wants the signing of the Solana agreement to be interpreted as Serbia's recognition of Kosovo's independence," he continued. Since EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said earlier this week that effort should be made to sign the SAA with Serbia, in a bid to help the pro-European parties in the May 11 ballot, the DSS has referred to the SAA as "Solana's agreement". Lonacar also said yesterday that should the DS coalition sign the deal, "it will be binding only for those parties, not for Serbia". "We hear that the Democratic Party are saying Sutanovac was on a party visit when he met Scheffer, so the only legitimate thing they can sign is a Canak-DS-G17 Plus party cooperation agreement with NATO," Loncar concluded.

Tadić threatened with recall, DS refutes DSS accusations

"We advise President Tadić and his associates not to play games with Serbia, and not to sign anything, because they will have a big problem on their hands," the New Serbia (NS) leader said.

"We advise the same to Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić, and we will ask Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica to withdraw any authorization to sign this agreement," Ilić said, and added the SAA must first go through the government and parliamentary procedure.

"If anyone were to sign anything that violates the constitution, they will be held accountable", Ilić said.

Yesterday, the deputy president of the Democratic Party (DS) Dragan Šutanovac rejected accusations coming from their political rivals, the DSS and New Serbia.

Šutanovac, who is also the defense minister in the caretaker Koštunica cabinet, said he and another DS official, Bojan Pajtić, were recently in Brussels on a visit "organized by an association of the people's parties that the DSS is an associate member of".

While in Brussels, Šutanovac told a party gathering in Jagodina, he visited the European Parliament, the European Commission, and met with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

"The main topic of our conversations was Europe now, Kosovo forever, while we spoke about the security in the region in an informal meeting with the NATO secretary general," Šutanovac said.

According to him, the accusations coming from the DSS-NS "should no longer be answered", because this coalition is "only there to help the SRS, the biggest enemies of Serbia's modernization".

"Little Vojislav wants to help big Vojislav. The one in Belgrade, the one in The Hague," Šutanovac was quoted as saying, in reference to the DSS and the Radicals (SRS) leaders.

He also commented a recent statement by Velimir Ilić, NS, that in Serbia, there is the honest people's coalition on the one side of the divide, while on the other stand the leaders of the coalition led by the DS.

"Velimir Ilić's honesty is under the most serious question mark, but we will discuss this after the elections and the formation of a DS-led government," the outgoing minister said.

Earlier, his cabinet colleague and DSS official Zoran Ločar said that "if the defense minister agreed with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to sign the Solana agreement on April 28, this will be a partisan agreement signed by the Čanak-DS-G17 Plus coalition, and nothing more".

"We will not recognize such an agreement," Lončar stressed.

"Obviously, NATO wants the signing of the Solana agreement to be interpreted as Serbia's recognition of Kosovo's independence," he continued.

Since EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said earlier this week that effort should be made to sign the SAA with Serbia, in a bid to help the pro-European parties in the May 11 ballot, the DSS has referred to the SAA as "Solana's agreement".

Lonačar also said yesterday that should the DS coalition sign the deal, "it will be binding only for those parties, not for Serbia".

"We hear that the Democratic Party are saying Šutanovac was on a party visit when he met Scheffer, so the only legitimate thing they can sign is a Čanak-DS-G17 Plus party cooperation agreement with NATO," Lončar concluded.